No muss, no fuss.

I’m not a big fan of container gardening with annuals. Too many rules (pot a vertical plant with a vine), too much repetition (start over every summer), and too easy to ignore (they need constant watering).

Perennials, on the hand, are a different story. I potted this blue hosta and Japanese fern four summers ago when I was moving around plants in the courtyard, and it hasn’t disappointed. I leave it outside, where is dies back every winter. In March, like clockwork, the hosta emerges followed by the fern. I nudge it along with a little water now and then, and by early June, it's fragrant and blooming.